Travel writing is one of the genres I recently got myself involved into. Never having much of interest in travelling until recently was much of a contributor and I never seemed to care about it. One of the most interesting forms of writing (that’s how I perceive it today); it has many aspects to it, allowing an individual to explore as much as he can in his capacity.

Most of the pieces we read on travelling today are in forms of personal blogs or travel websites. Many of them are descriptions or personal experiences of people. For those who love writing, this can be one of the most enjoyable experiences. What better than a mélange of travelling, writing and exploring, while also getting readers to know about your journey. Here are a few things I have learnt off lately, while writing about places I recently went to-

1.    If you are planning to go for a vacation with your family or by yourself, start writing about it from day one itself.  One of the many mistakes that travelers commit is only after they come back. By the time you come back, the true essence of the place is already gone and only leftovers are the facts and not the real takeaways.

2.    Click Pictures – Any travel write-up or a blog is incomplete without the pictures of the place. Photographs add a sense of reality and credibility to your article and give your readers a better insight into your journey.

3.    Explore the unknown – While you are onboard, make sure you explore as much and write on each thing you find unique to the place. Mention whatever you find different and exclusive to the place. This will make your blog a more real one and your readers will be hooked on to it for a long time.

4.    Write on the spot – While you are already on a site, you plan to write about, the best way is to write about it in brief, then and there itself. This way, you will be able to produce a write up with a more indigenous feel to it.

Alright, here we go. After repeated reminders from my boss and “Writing a Blog is no big deal” statements from my colleagues, I am finally Blogging! But, what is it that I am supposed to blog on??

Well, that is the question that lingers in on just about anyone’s mind, worse some of them never get the answer. Whilst some folks only decide to blog because they hear someone making a fortune through blogging, there are also some who get *inspired* to write a blog after they come across a wonderful blog from their favorite celebrity. And probably that is the very reason they do not know what topic to write on, since it is not the love of writing that is drawing them to blogging, it is something which has absolutely nothing to do with writing. Let us have a look at why people wanting to blog don’t blog:

• No Love for Writing Really

As pointed out above, blogging is all about wanting to express yourself through words. Money can be one of the motivations, not THE motivation.

• Lack of Confidence

Not being sure if what we write is up to the ‘standards’ is the primary reason why people stay away from blogging. People read other blogs and start comparing the quality of writing on those blogs with their own writing capabilities and that is where the doubts start creeping in. This is what must have prompted Mark Twain to say, “All you need is ignorance and confidence and the success is sure”

• Expecting Too Much Too Soon

Web is full of stories of people churning out heaps of money by just blogging. So when some new writers on the block do not see the riches pouring in with just a smattering of blogs, they quit writing.

• Who has Time?

In this hustle and bustle of our daily lives, squeezing out some time for blogging makes up for one challenging task, unless you are a professional writer. You need an uncluttered mind to write blogs, and that is the only thing one never has a luxury of. Writing a blog requires time and an internet connection and while latter can be easily acquired, you cannot buy time!

There must be further more reasons for you not writing a blog even after registering yourself with number of websites. It’s time you give up those reasons and give in to the gratification you get from writing. I for one, surrender!

Looking back a few years, there was no word such as “Blog” but today blogs have carved a niche for themselves in the internet domain. Just to give an idea as to what exactly a blog means, refer to the diary that one used to maintain in nineties. Now, look at your blog, which is just like a diary, but one that is maintained online, with a plethora of added features. Earlier it was not that easy to have access to internet, but today, with so many innovations lined up, internet is found in everybody’s pocket. Easy access has made individuals known in the online world. Blog, also known as a web log, is a platform where one can share thoughts, actions, opinions and reactions.

Instantly, you must have noticed that, be it a personal site or a corporate site, all have made a new addition of “blog” on their home page. The influence and importance of blogs has seen a tremendous, rather exponential, growth in the last four years. Blogs have become promotional tools that provide you with recognition, not to mention enhancing the communication channel.

Anyone can start blogging, but not everyone knows the right track that is to be followed while doing so. The basic approach while writing a blog should be to make other respond to your opinions or to make people identify with your ideology. There are certain golden rules that a blogger should always remember and understand the importance behind them. How to go about writing a blog?  Blogging needs to be in sync with your opinion, what you want to say and the manner in which you want to say it. Sometimes, provocative things said on blogs make people comment and participate to support or disabuse opinions. If you want people to come back to your blog post for more information or follow-ups, it is important to make your writing interesting. An appropriate tone along with consistency in your writing style is the key ingredient here. People love to read blogs because they contain opinions and reactions that come from public and not from any professional’s mind that is probably well-trained to write content. It is a place where you will find public expressions on topics people are passionate about, that they wish to express. It becomes a necessity that defines the nature of a blog, to speak what’s on your mind related to a particular subject or a situation.

Be honest and openly express yourself while blogging. The basic idea behind a blog should be to entertain readers and directly strike their thinking so that they participate in it.  Keep a blog personal; let the writings define you, your thinking that makes you different from rest of the world.

Blog writing started as a platform for self expression. People used it to pen their thoughts and opinions, but it has evolved itself by becoming a means to market and promote products and services for business organizations. It is one of the most recent additions of the online content marketing tools. In this century, internet has become one the topmost powerful tools to reach out to the masses anywhere in the world. People use it to promote their business and provide facts to the information-hungry internet goers.

Blogs as a source only work if they are constantly updated with relevant content that the readers will be interested in reading. Blogs are visited by readers to know information about the most recent developments in the products and services range. There are basically two kinds of blogs which includes personal blogs and corporate blogs. Companies who offer blogs on the website generally hire a professional blog writer, who can write content creatively. In the absence of content on the blog, the reader will be bored and the blog will lose all its appeal.

If properly maintained, a blog can become a great source for the company to generate awareness and interest. It can also assist the company in branding and advertising its new and old products and services.

There are various benefits that a company can reap with the help of blogging. It helps the company promote its brand name and increase website traffic to a great extent. As we blog, the company interacts with its customers and gathers their feedback. This serves as great medium for the company to reach out to its customers.  It works in favour of the company as it can now improve and at the same time understand customer expectations.

Blogging sites also help the company through regular feedback on their products and others in the market through their customers. If the company wishes to conduct an online market survey, a blog will help the company here as well. Blogs cannot just be written by professional blog writers but also people in the organisation which improves the communication inside the company.

With the world depending on the internet for every little thing, from shopping to school projects, from travel bookings to bank transactions, every company is interested in coming up with blogs to talk about their products and services. The first thing we do when we need information about anything, we go to a search engine, type in the relevant keywords and read up the various blogs that come up. Blogs are considered to be an easy-going way of publicity, where the companies don’t really brag about their services but try to provide information and reviews about themselves in an informal manner.

In this fast paced world, there is a service available for every need that you might have. Thus came up, blog writing services. There are a number of content writing services available today that help enterprises with online promotion. There are a number of factors that make blog writing a good means of cheap publicity. Cheap because, all you have to do is search for a good content writing company that has decent credentials to boast about their work and hire them. The writers at the company will do all the work for you, from coming up with constructive information and present it with a creative flair for your business blog. Blog writing increases your page rank on search engines, enhances your online popularity and attracts new customers. When people know that the blog they are reading is directly related to the company, they are assured that the information provided is genuine. Business blogs can have reviews and opinions from other customers, helping the readers to understand how your service was taken by the public. The readers no more have to tolerate pesky salesmen who drone about the services or products in a monotone. Blog writing services help you talk directly to your customers.

You might feel, why do you need to hire people to write for you when you can do that yourself? Well the answer is here, content writing consists of a lot of research, from producing content that the readers would actually read to making the content it search engine friendly. So save yourself some time and energy and hire writers who have the sole objective of spreading a good word about you!

The secret is out and if you do not know it already, you might just be on the losing track. Everyone can write a blog but not all blogs become popular. A plenty of reasons go behind the popularity of a blog with the readers. It has been proved that blogs with the most updates are the ones that get frequent readers. If you too have started your own blog, you need to take out some time from your busy schedule and use it to update your blog twice or thrice or even more in a particular week. The journey to be a blogger begins with blogging itself and if you want to be successful at it, you have to follow a strict routine.

As you go through the day, the blog needs to be somewhere there in the corner of your mind. You should carry a small diary with you to be able to remember the topics for blogs for a particular day. People would not like to read something about your life unless it is different and interesting. Even when you are writing about something else, make your posts interesting to read. It will show in your words if you are fearful and not free minded. Write without being afraid of any mistakes. It is your blog and you have the freedom to express your thoughts, as long as they are useful for the readers as well.

If you think you cannot blog daily, you can get a co-blogger to help you with the task. This will help you take off the extra pressure from your mind. You can explain your requirements to the fellow bloggers and ask them to keep updating the blog to be able to get more readers.